


The New Neighbor

by tabbytabbytabby



Category: 9-1-1 (TV), Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Cats, Crossover, Developing Relationship, First Meetings, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Neighbors, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29136717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabbytabbytabby/pseuds/tabbytabbytabby
Summary: Strange noises are coming from the apartment across the hall, and they're keeping Buck awake.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Jay Halstead
Comments: 10
Kudos: 140
Collections: 9-1-1 Tales





	The New Neighbor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Whis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whis/gifts).



Buck loves where he lives. He does. He gets along great with all his neighbors. They’re all mostly decent people who respect each other. There are rarely any fights or loud parties, which is nice to come home to after a long shift. When there are parties, Buck can usually just drown it out with his headphones or sleep at Eddie’s, but it’s rare. And it’s to the point that if his neighbors are going to have a party, they let him know ahead of time, wanting to respect his schedule. 

So when he gets startled awake early one more to the sound of banging across the hall, along with some weird yowling, Buck isn’t happy. He rolls over, bringing his pillow down over his head as he tries to block out the strange noises coming from across the hall. It’s unfortunate that he let his headphones die and forgot to plug them in before getting into bed, thinking it wouldn’t matter. It’s the middle of the day. Most people would be at work. There wouldn’t be anything to disturb him. 

He’d thought wrong.

Buck eventually admits defeat and throws his covers off him. He barely stops to put his shoes on before walking out of his apartment. He looks around, trying to pinpoint where the noise was coming from. Then he hears the yowling again coming from the apartment across the hall. 

There's a number of things that could be going on inside that apartment. Things Buck probably doesn't want to know about. But he needs sleep. And in order to get sleep, he needs quiet. So he squares his shoulders and walks across the hall. He raises his fist and knocks, firmly and loudly enough to hopefully be heard over the noise. 

Which stops suddenly at Buck's knocking. "Shit," Buck hears someone mutter from inside. Then louder, "Coming!"

Buck raises an eyebrow as he lowers his hand back to his side. A moment later, the door opens to reveal a man that could be a little older than him and is a few inches shorter. 

He looks out at Buck, a confused smile on his face. "Hi, can I help you?"

“You’re new here,” Buck says, giving the guy a good look up and down. He definitely hasn’t seen him before.

The guy meets his gaze, “I am. Just moved here from Chicago.”

Ah, that explains it. Buck scoffs. “Look, man, I don’t know how they do things in Chicago. But around here, we respect our neighbor’s right to get a decent sleep and not disturb them with whatever kinky shit you decided to get up to this morning.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“Who the hell sleeps in the middle of the day?” the guy questions.

“Maybe someone who just came off a 24-hour-shift and just wants some damn sleep,” Buck says.

“24-hour-shift? Are you…?”

“I’m a firefighter,” Buck says. “Why? You going to tell me you have a thing against firefighters?”

“Quite the opposite.” When Buck raises an eyebrow, he coughs and rubs the back of his neck. “I’m a cop, so I had some good friends that were firefighters back in Chicago.”

“Oh.”

“And I’m sorry about the noise,” he continues. “I’m not usually that bad. But I um…”

Buck tilts his head when he sees a furry head peeking around an upturned box, “Is that a cat?”

“Yeah, Oliver,” the man says. “He was my ex’s cat, but she just dropped him on me. He’s not my biggest fan right now. He’s a little feral, if I’m being honest. But I couldn’t just leave him. So…”

That explains the yowling. 

“I’m Buck.” Buck smiles and sticks out his hand. “And I’m great with cats.”

“Jay,” the man says, shaking his hand with an amused smile. “And I’m apparently not.”

Buck laughs, “Well, lucky for you, I’m your neighbor.”

“I thought you needed to sleep,” Jay says.

Buck waves him off, “How can I sleep when there’s someone in need?”

“I can handle this,” Jay tells him.

“Yeah, it really sounded like it,” Buck snorts. “Besides, I was talking about the cat.”

“You don’t have to,” Jay tells him.

“If I ever want to get any sleep around here, what choice do I have?” Buck teases. “Besides, as I already said, I’m great with cats. It seems you both need me.”

Jay steps aside and waves him in, “If you think you can do something, be my guest.”

Buck can tell he has his doubts, which just spurs Buck on. He’s going to prove him wrong. Buck moves into the middle of the room and sits on the floor with his legs crossed. He has Jay hang back by the wall a safe distance away.

Oliver watches him from across the room, gaze wary. Buck doesn't try to approach him. He just sits there, letting the cat know that what happens next is up to him. 

"How long does this usually take?" Jay asks. 

Buck shoots him a look, "As long as it needs to."

"And what exactly are you doing?"

"Trying to build trust," Buck says. "I'm letting him know what happens is up to him. Now shh."

"Right, I'm gonna order a pizza," Jay mutters. He walks off, leaving Buck alone in the room with Oliver. 

Oliver sits there for a few minutes, just watching him. Then he stands up and pads closer. Buck slowly holds out his hand in front of him for Oliver to smell if he wants. He does. He sniffs at buck's hand before rubbing his head against it. 

Buck smiles and takes a chance. He reaches his head up and gently strokes down Oliver's back. "There we go," he says quietly, not wanting to spook him. "See, this is nice."

Oliver starts purring and rubbing against his legs as Buck continues to pet him. Then, he surprises Buck by crawling on his lap. He walks in circles a few times before laying down on Buck’s legs. Buck scratches between his ears, and the purring intensifies.

"He's not so bad," Buck tells him. "Probably nice once you give him a chance." Oliver meows, and Buck nods. "Yeah, he's kind of cute too."

"Are you talking to the cat?" Jay says. 

Buck's eyes widen, and he turns to where Jay is leaning against the wall, smirking. "We're getting acquainted."

"Right, and getting acquainted means telling the cat you think his owner is cute," Jay teases. 

Buck shrugs, "I could have been talking about someone else."

Jay raises an eyebrow, "Were you?"

Buck could lie and say he was. But he's intrigued by this new neighbor of his. And he is cute. There's no harm in admitting that. "No."

“So, does that mean if I ask you to dinner, you’d say yes?” Jay asks.

Buck smiles, “Maybe.”

“What do I have to do to turn that maybe into a yes?” 

Buck thinks about it. He doesn’t necessarily have anything against going out with Jay. Sure, he doesn’t know him all that well. But Buck is sure he’s not a serial killer or some wackjob. Dinner would be an excellent way to get to know him. If things go well, great. If not, there’s not really much to lose. 

“Come here,” Buck says.

“All I have to do is come over there?” Jay questions. “That feels too easy.”

Buck chuckles, “We’re going to test it.”

“Test what?”

“If Oliver lets you pet him, then I’ll have dinner with you,” Buck says.

“That cat hates me,” Jay says.

“He was scared,” Buck says. “He was thrown into a new environment with someone he barely knows. Of course he was going to be on guard. So now it’s up to you to get him to trust you.”

Jay nods, but he still looks a little apprehensive as he slowly approaches Buck. Oliver lifts his head to look at him but doesn’t move. Buck keeps running a soothing hand down his back, trying to keep him calm. “You’re okay, buddy. No one here is going to hurt you.”

Jay stops a few feet away and sits down on the floor next to Buck. He holds out his hand to Oliver the same way Buck had done earlier. Oliver looks at his hand for a moment, clearly trying to decide if he can trust him. Then he leans over and sniffs Jay’s hand. They both watch with bated breath to see what Oliver is going to do. After a moment, he nudges his head against Jay’s hand. Jay laughs and reaches up to pet his head. Oliver doesn’t pull away.

“Well then,” Jay says. “I guess that gives us our answer.”

“Guess so,” Buck says. “Cats are an excellent judge of character, so I can’t go against that.”

“So,” Jay says, leaning in closer with a smirk. “Where are you going to take me?”

“Oh, I’m the one who’s taking you someplace,” Buck says. “Is that how it’s going to go?”

“Well, I am new here,” Jay says. “I don’t exactly know the best places to eat yet.”

“I guess I’ll just have to show you then, won’t I?” Buck asks.

“Guess so.”

It’s strange. Buck only met this man not even an hour again, but he feels this pull towards him. He’s cute and charming, sure. But there’s more there under the surface. He can tell. It just makes Buck all the more intrigued. 

Buck gently picks Oliver up and sets him on Jay’s lap. The cat blinks up at him for a moment before resuming his nap. Jay frowns when Buck starts towards the door. “Where are you going?”

“To get some sleep now that it’s finally quiet,” Buck says. “I’ll come by at 7ish to get you for dinner.”

“Wait, tonight?” 

“Is that a problem?” Buck asks.

Jay shakes his head, “No. Not at all. I just need to find the rest of my clothes.”

Buck looks around at the boxes still littering the room and grins, “Good luck with that.”

“Enjoy your sleep, Buck,” Jay says. “I’ll see you tonight.”

Buck leaves the apartment feeling a lot better than when he’d banged on the door earlier. He crawls back into bed and closes his eyes with a smile, hoping now he’ll finally be able to get some sleep. He has a feeling his new neighbor is going to keep him on his toes, and he’s kind of looking forward to it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos/comments make my day 💜  
> [My tumblr](http://tabbytabbytabby.tumblr.com/)


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